The Group Chat Mixup

Leo is supposed to send a message to his friend Quinn about tonight's plans. Instead, he sends it to the family group chat by mistake. That's the one with his mom, his aunt, and his little cousin.

利奥本来要给朋友奎因发一条关于今晚安排的消息，却一不小心发到了家庭群里。那个群里有他妈妈、他姨妈和他的小表妹。

The message says: "still on for tonight? bring the stuff lol, don't tell your parents haha."

消息写的是：“今晚还照常吗？把那些东西带上哈哈，别告诉你爸妈嘿嘿。”

He doesn't notice for almost twenty minutes, busy finishing his homework. When he finally checks his phone, there are already twelve replies waiting.

他忙着写作业，将近二十分钟都没注意到。等他终于看手机时，已经有十二条回复在等着了。

His aunt has written: "Leo, what stuff? What is going on tonight?" His mom has sent three question marks and nothing else, which somehow feels worse than actual words. His little cousin, who is eleven, has simply replied: "can I come."

他姨妈写道：“利奥，什么东西？今晚到底要干什么？”他妈妈只发了三个问号，别的什么都没说，这反而让人觉得比真正的话更糟。他十一岁的小表妹只回了一句：“我能去吗。”

Leo's stomach drops. He reads his own message again and realizes exactly how it sounds out of context. The "stuff" was just snacks for a movie night with Quinn and Astrid. But nobody in the family chat knows that.

利奥心里一沉。他又读了一遍自己的消息，才明白脱离上下文后它听起来是什么样。那些“东西”只是他和奎因、阿斯特丽德看电影之夜的零食，可家庭群里没人知道。

He starts typing an explanation, deletes it, and starts again. His first attempt sounds too defensive. His second attempt sounds like he's hiding something even worse. On his third try, he decides that honesty, however awkward, is probably faster than a clever excuse.

他开始打字解释，又删掉，重新写。第一次听起来太像在辩解，第二次听起来像是在隐瞒什么更糟的事。第三次，他决定，诚实哪怕再尴尬，也大概比编个巧妙的借口来得快。

"Sorry, wrong chat!! I meant to send this to Quinn," he types. "The 'stuff' is literally just chips and a movie. Nothing exciting, promise."

“抱歉，发错群了！！我本来是发给奎因的，”他打字道，“那些‘东西’真的就只是薯片和一部电影。没什么刺激的，保证。”

His aunt replies almost instantly: "That's disappointing. I was hoping for actual drama."

他姨妈几乎是立刻回复：“真让人失望。我还指望有点真正的好戏呢。”

His mom sends a single laughing emoji, which is somehow more embarrassing than the question marks.

他妈妈发来一个大笑的表情，这不知怎么比那几个问号还让人难为情。

Meanwhile, Quinn has been waiting for twenty-five minutes with no answer, so she texts Astrid directly. "Did Leo forget about tonight? He's gone completely silent."

与此同时，奎因已经干等了二十五分钟，没有任何回音，于是直接给阿斯特丽德发了消息。“利奥是不是忘了今晚的事？他完全没声了。”

Astrid replies: "No idea, but I just saw his aunt post something in a group chat. It was asking about 'the stuff.' It's either us or he's in some kind of trouble."

阿斯特丽德回复：“不知道，不过我刚看到他姨妈在一个群里发了条消息，问的是‘那些东西’。要么是说我们，要么是他惹上什么麻烦了。”

By the time Leo gets the right message to the right chat, both sides already have a theory. He decides it's easier to just show up and let everyone see for themselves.

等利奥把对的消息发到对的群里时，两边早就各有各的猜测了。他决定，直接出现，让大家亲眼看看，会更省事。